Circulator for wells



Aug.. 31, 1926, www@ l E. IF. SHERRICK CIRCULATOR FOR WELLS Filed Jan. 4, 1926 Patented Aug. 31,Y 1926.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

NIA.

S, CALIFORNIA, ASSIGNOR OF THIRTY-THREE NK C. WISER AND THIRTY-THREE AND ONE- LAUGI-ILIN, BOTH OF LOS ANGrIEILES,r CALIFOR- omoULAToR Fon WELLS.

Application filled January 4, 1926. Serial No. 79,131.

This invention has to do with devices and Such systems m as to limited necessarily 7stems for flowing uid circulation.

water is raised fro either gaseous or liq fluid from a well by Systems in which oil or m a well by introducing uid fluid under pressure ve been well known and are now in use.

fluid.

either a moving the use of a moving fluid; but I present forni hasbeendesigned particularly for using liquid as describe it is used in ay use either gas or liquid My device is applicable kind of fluid and is not to the use of a. liquid as because thedevice in its a moving fluid I shall that manner, but withn out thereby necessarily limiting the inveiition to such use.

As applied particularly to oil wells, devices of the kind herein described have uti lized two balanced columns of liquid. one

column being pressure to force t jector nozzle and t ward movement in the other raise the oil to the surface.

put under a slight additional he flow through an inhereby to maintain upcolumn to I have found in the use of such devices that there is a clog lsu

many oils do. structed'such de up, particularl bstantial amount Al lt to place in g, repair or prevalent tendency for the nozzles to y if the oil carries any* of foreign matter, as so as heretofore convices have been rather dini- 'a well and to remove for renewal. It is among to provide a -form of device that can'be easily placed and removed, and'that can be operated in such mii-1111er aS easily clean itself o f any clogging material without the necessity of removin e well.

g the device completely .from I-Iow these and other objects of the invention are accomplished will be best understood from a consideration of the following detailed speciication, wherein I de-` scribe a preferred and illustrative form of device embodying the invention, reference for this panying rawings,

a. We, showing," in

stalled therein; p l

Fig. 2 is an enlarged longitudinal section my device in plac ypurpose being had to the accomin which :y

1 is a longitudinalvertical section of elevation, my device ine in a well casing;

y Fig. 4 is a cross section on line 4-4 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 5 is a cross section on line 5 5 of Fig. 2; and

Fig. 6 is a longitudinal section of certain parts shown in Fig. 2, showing those parts in the position they assume when the device is operated for self-closing.

There is shown in the drawing a well casing or other well pipe 10 within which a tubing 11 extends from the surface to a point either below the normal oil level or in proximity thereto. The upwardly flowing column of oil from a well flows up and out through tubing 11; the balancing column of oil that flows downwardly is in the* annular space between tubing 11 and casing 10.

At the lower end .of tubing 11 I attach a barrel 12 havin@r through its walls suitable openings 13 tbhrough which the liquid may yflow from the outer column into the inner column. Inside barrel 12 and in communication with openings 13 is an annular groove 14 to form communications with openings 15 in member 16 in case member 16 is so placed that openings 15 do not register with openings 13. Member 16 I shall terni the outer nozzle member. An inner nozzle member 17 seats at its lower end on a conical set 18 formed in barrel 12. This inner nozzle member has a central bore 19 extending vertically through it, and has an upper reduced part 20 that terminates at its upper end in a conical tip 21, all as is best shown in Fig. 2. This conical tip stands concentrically inside an upwardly tapered bore 22 of outer nozzle l y member 16, the conical tip and tapered bore 22 together forming between them an annular conical nozzle space that tapers in form and also decreases in cross sectional area as it proceeds upwardly. All this will best be seen by inspection of Figs. 2 and 4.

This conical nozzle space designated 23 on the drawing delivers at its upper end into bore 24 of nozzle member 16; and from this bore 24 the upwardly moving stream of liquid is delivered directly through the open cage bars 25 of member 16 into tubing. 11 above. Cage bars 25 form the mechanical means of connection of member 16 with head 26 into which the lifting rod 27 is screwed, this rod extending to the top of the well and forming a means by. which the whole device may be inserted in or lifted from the well without the necessity of removing tubing 11.

When the device is in place for operation the parts occupy the relative positions shown in Fig. 2, with the lower annular edge 16a of nozzle member 16 resting on the upwardly facing shoulder 17a of nozzle member 17. Nozzle member 16 is held in position. merely7 by so resting on member 17 and by the weight 0f rods 27 upon it.' It has been found in practice that the weight of a comparatively short length of rods is suflicient to keep nozzle member 16 downin operative position against the upward pressure exerted upon it by theI flowing fluid.

Also attached to head 26 and depending therefrom is a combined lifting rod and guide member 30 which extends down through bore 24 of member 16 and bore 19 of member 17 and preferably has longitudinal ribs 31 engaging bore 19 so as to accurately center the upper conical tip of member 17. Member 17 is, of course, centered by the lit of its lower end in barrel 12 and by its seat: at 1'8; but to insure concentricity of its upper end with nozzle member 16, l provide the centering member 30 with its ribs 31. Member 30 extends on down below the centering ribs 31 in the form of a rod 30a for the purpose of carrying and pulling the standing valve 35. rl`his standing valve maye be of any usual type and has a tube 36 attached to its head, this tube having at its upper end an internal bushing 37 against which head 30b of rod 30n moves upwardly when the whole device is pulled from the well. Standing valve 35 seats in the usual seat member 38 andy the valve itself may carry an inner suction tube 39 that depends'into 'the oil below. This structure and arrangement, however, are well known. The normal distance between head 30b and vbushing 37 is sufficient that the standing valve is not raised until rod 30 and the parts attached to it have been raised a little distance. It is by raising these parts that the device is put into position to have the nozzle cleaned out of any obstructing matter; and it is desirable to be able to raise the parts for cleaning without necessarily raising the standing valve. The function of the standing valve is merely to keep the column of oilfrom flowing downwardly in case of stoppage of circulating operations; and by keeping` italways on its seat during a cleaning operation the height of the column raised in the tubing is not lost each time.

In operation, as for pumping oil from an outer column of oil flowing on down into the lower part ofthe well and forces the oil in that column to How through the openings 13 and through the described nozzle. The device as a whole is placed in the well in such relation to the normal oil level therein that ythe nozzle is either below the normal oil vlevel or at least is in reason-l able suction distance of the oil level. Typically vthe device' as a whole wouldbe below t-he normal oil level so that oil from the lower part of the well will pass up through the standing valve, and passing upI through bores 19 and ,24, will stand above the nozzle. As a column of oil outside tubing 11 is created at a height greater than the height of the column standing in tube 11, oil will flow inwardly through openings 13, etc., and flow upwardly through nozzle 23. It will be noted that this nozzle 23 is so arranged with relation to the upper endy of bore 19 that the upwardly flowing stream through nozzle 23 has an injector action with relation to oil standing directly above it, and therefore draws oil up through bore 19, and sets in upward motion the whole column of oil above the nozzle. llt will be noted that rod 30 concentrates the oil flow in bore 19 near the periphery and close to the stream flowing up through nozzle 23. lf the center of the bore were open the heavy oil pressure from above might set up a downward flow on the bore axis, passing oil down through the bore as fast as it were pulled up by the injector action. `As the exterior oilI column is increased in height the interior oil column is also increased in height; and when the exterior oil column has reached the top of the well, then additional pressure is put upon that column so that, when the interior4 column reaches the top of the well, the pressure on the exterior column will still be suflicient to force oil upwardlyl through the nozzle and continue the injector action that keeps the inner column in constant upward motion. The pressure necessary kfor this purpose on the outer column is comparatively small; even in a deep well 'with comparatively heavy oil a pressure of 20 pounds per squarev inch will keep the columns in motion. lt will be understood,`of course, that liquid must constantly be pumpedd in at the top of the outer column; but that the volume of liquid raised in the inner column is many times more than the volume pumped into the outer column.

lll)

'lhe device will operate constantly subject only to an occasional-clogging of the nozzle. When this occurs in my device it `is only necessaryr to lift rods 27 a short distance so as to lift the outer nozzle member 1G to some such position as illustrated in Fig. 6, opening upthe nozzle 23 and allowing the upward flow of liquid to clean out the obstruction. This can be done without stopping the circulation at all; then the parts immediately lowered to operating postion. It will be noted that when the outer nozzle member is thus slightly lifted the siandiag valve is not disturbed, and neither is the lower nozzle member 17 disturbed, as the standing valve is only picked up after 4the rods have been moved up a much larger distance; and the lower nozzle member 17 is not picked up until the standing valve has been picked up and the upper end of bushing 37.is carried up against lower member 17. However, when it is desired for an).v reason to remore the device from a well it is easily done by merely pulling the rod, when the whole device is moved at once without any necessity of disturbing the tubing. And for facilitating' removal and replacement it will be noted that theI smallest internal diameter of barrel 12 is-amply large to pass the standingvalve and also that all the parts of the nozzle device itself fit the barrel with a fairly easy fit. Both nozzle members 1G and 17 are made to fit the barrel fairly snugly and yet be freely slidable in the barrel so as to be easily placed and removed. The internal bore of thebarrel is itself some- I claim:

1. A device for pumping wells by fluid circulation, embodying a barrel adapted to be connected with a well tubing, the barrel having openings through its wall and an internal seat below said openings, an inner and lower nozzle member seated on said seat, an upper and outer nozzle member arranged above and surrounding the first mentioned nozzle member and forming therewith an `upwardly discharging I nozzle communicating at its lower endwith sald openings,l

both said nozzle members being removable from the barrel by upward movement, a lifting rod attached to the second mentioned nozzle member and means attached to said second mentioned nozzle member and adapted to engage and lift the first mentioned nozzle member when the second mentioned nozzle member has been lifted a predetermined distance. v

2A device for, ,pumping wells by cfluid circulation, embodying a barrel adapted to be connected with a well tubing, the barrel having openings through its wall and an in-` ternal seat below said openings, an inner and lower-nozzle member seated on saidfseat,

what smaller than the diameter of tubing` an` upper and outer nozzle member arranged above and surrounding the lirst mentioned nozzle member and forming therewith an upwardly discharging nozzle communicating at its lower end with said openings, both said nozzle members being removable from the barrel by upward movement, a lifting` rod attached to the second mentioned mem ber andadaptedto engage and lift the first mentioned -nozzle member when the second mentioned nozzle member has been lifted a predetermined distance, said nozzle members forming an Vupwardly converging conical nozzle, so that lifting of the upper and outer nozzle member will open up said nozzle as and. for the purpose described. i

3. A device for pumping wells by Huid circulation, embodying a barrelv adapted to be connected with a well tubing, the barrelf having openings through its wall and an internal seat below said openings, an inner and lower nozzle member seated on said seat, said nozzle member having a reduced-upward extension at a point opposite said openings, and said upward extension having an upwardly tapering conical nozzle tip, an upper and outer nozzle member normally resting at its lower edge on the first mentioned nozzle member and having y'an upwardly tapering conical bore which in its normal po- Sition spacedly surrounds the tapered nozzle tip of the first mentioned member to form an upwardly tapering annular nozzle, said last mentioned nozzle member having openings at points opposite the openings through the barrel so that fluid may ow from outside the barrel to the lower end of said nozzle, and the last mentioned nozzle member also having. a bore leading upwardly from the 1 having openings throughJ its wall and an internal seat below said openings, aninner and lower'nozzle member seated on said seat, saidnozzle member having a reduced upward extension at a point opposite said openings, and said upward Vextension having an upwardly tapering conical nozzle tip, an upper and outer nozzle member normally resting at its lower edge on the first mentioned nozzle member and having anupwardly tapering conical bore which in its normal position spacedly surrounds the tapered nozzle tip of 'the first mentioned member-to form an upwardly tapering annular nozzle, said last' mentioned nozzlemember having vopenings at points opposite the openings through 4the barrel so that fluid may flow from outside the barrel to the lower end of said nozzle, and the last mentioned nozzle member also having a bore leading upwardly from the nozzle, a cage head on the last mentioned -engaging the bore of the lower nozzle member at its upper end to center the'upper end offsaid nozzle member. Y

5. A device for pumping wells by Huid circulation, embodying a barrel adapted to be connected with a well tubing, the barrel having openings through its wall and an in- A ternal seat below said openings, an inner and lower nozzle member seated. on said seat, an upper and outer nozzle member arrangedabove and surrounding the first inentioned -nozzle member and forming therewith an upwardly discharging nozzle co1nmunicating at its lower 4end with said openings, bothl said nozzle members being removabie from the barrel by upward movement, a lifting rod attached to the second mentioned nozzle member and means attached to said second mentioned nozzle member and adapted to engage and lift the first mentioned nozzle member,-` when the second mentioned nozzle member has been lifted a predetermined distance, and a standing valve arranged below7 said valve and liftable by said last mentioned means after the upper nozzle member has been lifted a predetermined distance.

6. Adevice for pumping wells by fluid circulation, embodying a barrel adapted to be connected with a well tubing, the barrel having openings through its wall and an internal seat below said openings, an inner and lower nozzle member seated on said seat, said nozzle member having a reduced upward extension at a point opposite said openings, and said upward extension having an upwardly tapering conical nozzle tip, an upper and outer nozzle member normally resting at its lower edge on the first mentioned nozzle member and having an up wardly tapering conical bore which in its normal position spacedly surrounds the tapered nozzle tip of the first mentioned member to form an upwardly tapering annular4 nozzle, said last mentioned nozzle member having openings at points opposite the openings through the barrel so that fluid may flow from outside the barrel to the lower end of said nozzle, and the last men tioned nozzle member also having a bore leading upwardly from the nozzle, a cage head on the last mentioned nozzle member, lifting rods attached to said head, said lower nozzle member having a vertical central bore extending through it, and a rod attached to and depending from said head and extending down through the bore in the lower nozzle member and provided with means to engage the under side of the lower nozzle ,member l when the upper nozzle member hasy been 'lifted a predetermined distance, said rod also having longitudinal ribsengaging the bore of the lower nozzle member at its upper end to center the upper end of said nozzle member, anda standing valve arranged below the `barrel and' liftable by said last mentioned rod after the upper nozzle member has been lifted a predetermined distance.

In witness that ll claim the foregoing l have hereunto subscribed my name this 10 day of December, 1925.

' EDWARD F. SHERRllCK. 

